I am sitting in Emergency Exit row seat 12C on this Boeing 737-800 Shenzhen Airways flight, surrounded by noisy, coughing, splattering passengers. As soon as I sit down I know this isn’t going to be a good flight.

Well, it turns out that the guy next to me and the 2 guys on the opposite side of the aisle are friends and I am literally in the middle BUT after asking the kind flight attendant the 3 of them move to an empty row so all is good.

Shortly after takeoff the drink service arrives and I have a glass of red and a water. Next is the meal and again I am really impressed with the quality and quantity. And the service is really friendly too.

The highlight for me though is arriving at Gate D5 at BKK airport – directly opposite immigration (fast track for me) and into a Grab car within minutes.

Rating: 8/10